


light scattering clouds

by AStrangeDaze (TerraRising)



Series: sun, moon, and rain [1]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Gen, I swear, M/M, it's not angst for once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 00:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20322052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraRising/pseuds/AStrangeDaze
Summary: Wooseok doesn't quite know what to do with this well-meaning stranger who can't seem to leave well enough alone. Maybe if he stops responding, he'll go away on his own?or, 5 times Wooseok runs into one Han Seungwoo + 1 time it stops being a coincidence





	light scattering clouds

“.......Seok?”

His breath is stuttering a bit but he steadies it and the phone he’s clutching in his hand forcibly; at the very least, the phone is steady.

“....Yeah?”

“I’m sorry,” a rasp of static passes through the receiver with Jinhyuk’s sigh and Wooseok fancies for a moment that he can feel the phantom of the other’s breath against his neck, “I know we made promises, I know I said things and, and I meant them.”

“But that was then,” Wooseok murmurs, playing with the frayed ends of a woven leather bracelet Jinhyuk had made for him years ago - it barely encircles his wrist now even with all the stretching and how thin Wooseok has stayed throughout the years, “And this is now.”

“I still love you,” Jinhyuk says earnestly and Wooseok can feel his lips twisting in response as he tries to hold back a snort; only Jinhyuk would think that this was an appropriate moment to say those words, that it somehow made things better, “Just….not like that.”

Wooseok stays silent. In the back of his mind where his thoughts aren’t racing wildly, there is a deadly stillness that is willing the world to take this all back, that insists this is all just a joke, a farce. It isn’t though; they were the farce, he is the joke. People grow up, grow apart, want different things - he just wishes it wasn’t so. 

“I’m sorry,” Jinhyuk repeats a little helplessly, “I don’t...I can’t stay beside you forever anymore.”

“Ah…..” Wooseok picks at the knot that holds the bracelet together until it falls apart in his fingers, weathered leather strands unravelling and sliding off his wrist as he watches gravity’s inevitable pull do its work dispassionately, “I’m sorry too.”

* * *

**\- 1 -**

Wooseok doesn’t know how long he takes to wandering the streets after he ends that call. All he knows is that he doesn’t want to go home, doesn’t want to walk headfirst into a space that reminds him so strongly of Jinhyuk. So instead he drags his tired feet along for a very long time, past closing shops and street food stalls. He walks until the only things still open are convenience stores on the graveyard shift and he can no longer feel his fingers, when the cold isn’t cold anymore but just a numbness.

He could call a friend, maybe, ask to stay over, but then there would be questions, uncomfortable ones he doesn’t want to answer, and pity that he never asked for. Because Jinhyuk was always so _good_, his better half, that anyone looking in knows who bears the heavier costs of the loss. 

Somehow he’s found himself inside a 7-Eleven, staring blankly at the selection of hot drinks, some instinctual need to survive and warm up driving him.

“Excuse me?”

Wooseok turns slowly at the call, trying and failing to muster up a plastic smile for the clerk who he’s probably weirded out with his impression of a statue. 

It only takes him a second to realize it’s not the clerk hovering over his shoulder but a tall man, neatly dressed, sporting bangs long enough that they hide his eyes almost completely. What parts of his face that Wooseok can see looks concerned, and the other very slowly lays a hand on the back of Wooseok’s elbow.

“Are you okay?” the man asks.

Wooseok can hear the frown in his voice though he cannot see it through the other’s frankly ridiculous bangs and he tries once again to rummage up a smile to placate this well-meaning stranger. 

It doesn’t fit. 

“I’m fine,” he says anyways, nowhere close to convincing.

“Thank you,” he continues, the angles of his mouth stiff, when the stranger doesn’t leave like he had been waiting for.

“Are you sure?” the stranger pulls his hand back as if sensing something.

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.”

Wooseok turns on his heels and leaves the convenience store himself when the stranger seems unlikely to believe him. What a nuisance, poking his nose into someone else’s business, a bleeding heart who cares too much, who helps every sad soul they meet on the streets, just like-

He stutters to a stop, running on fumes and losing even that.

_Just like Jinhyuk. _

“Ah, excuse me for intruding…”

Wooseok whirls around, glaring. There are tears in his eyes that he won’t admit are there when he meets the gaze of this meddlesome man, too kind for his own good.

“What?”

“Here,” a gloved hand takes his hand and then presses something warm into it, and Wooseok holds on instinctively, “you...you looked like you could use something warm.”

The stranger smiles down at him kindly and Wooseok struggles to hang on to the anger, clutching at the cup of coffee he has been offered. “Thank you,” he says finally, “You shouldn’t have. But thank you.”

“It’s no trouble just, get yourself home safe, yeah? And I hope whatever is bothering you works out. Have a good night!”

Wooseok watches him go, watches the stranger’s silhouette slowly disappear from view. He takes a sip of the coffee and is startled to find it sweet when he expected something bitter. It’s cloying in its sweetness, much more sugar than Wooseok has ever preferred, milky and watered down until it could barely even be called coffee anymore. 

He drinks it anyways and waits for a night that drags on forever to pass.

* * *

**\- 2 -**

Curled up on a tiny bench inside the meagre shelter the bus stop offers from the rain, Wooseok glares at the heavens that had seen fit to open up on him minutes ago with a truly torrential flood. 

“Stupid,” he mutters under his breath, grimacing at how sodden his shoes feel, hating the sensation of drenched socks, “stupid, stupid, stupid.”

A month ago, he could hop on a bus from here and make it home, a little damp but mostly okay.

A month ago, he had been sitting on this very bench, waiting for the bus to take him home when everything had changed with a single phone call.

No, he shakes his head, that was just him being dramatic again, but rainy days always did that to him. As much as he had thought it would, everything and nothing changed. He still goes about life largely the same - same job, same friends, same responsibilities. Only he goes home to an empty apartment now, smaller than the last. And he takes a different bus, one that doesn’t make a stop here.

But he’s stuck until the rain stops unless he wants to make a mad dash through the downpour and get on the bus like a drowned cat. “Should have checked the forecast,” he grumbles to himself, “put a weather app on your phone. Stupid, you can’t rely on someone else anymore.”

“Hoo! It’s really coming down,” a tall man hurries into the bus shelter, squeezing in beside Wooseok, closing a collapsible umbrella that he shakes off, flicking water all over Wooseok and he pulls a face.

“Sorry-”

“Watch where you’re-”

Their eyes meet and Wooseok freezes, reprimand dying on his lips. The stranger gives a sheepish smile that shows off his dimple to advantage (dimple, he has a dimple, Wooseok hadn’t noticed that last time at all).

“Oh, it’s _you_.”

The words slip out more deadpan and dismissive than Wooseok means them to be and he almost slaps a hand over his mouth. _Great, now I sound like the universe’s more ungrateful bastard,_ he sighs internally.

The stranger only laughs. “Sorry about that, didn’t mean to get you all wet, or well _more_ wet,” he chuckles to himself and Wooseok rolls his eyes, averting his eyes from that _goddamn dimple_ which seems to demand the world join in on its owner’s mirth.

“Whatever.”

He’s content to turn the other way even as the man takes a seat next to him, sighing heavily in contentment as he is finally able to rest. Wooseok sneaks a glance to see him playing with the ends of his still unreasonably long bangs - how does he see at all? - before settling into ignoring him as well as he can.

“Soo….waiting for the bus?”

Wooseok scowls, wondering why he couldn’t have run into a less friendly stranger, one that would take the freaking hint and leave well alone. “No,” he grouses, answering and deducting each syllable from the cost of that sorry, watered-down coffee weeks ago, “Waiting on the rain to let up.”

“Oh…okay.”

The stranger trails off and Wooseok hopes he stays that way, he’s shivering and sniffling a bit from the cold and the damp, the last thing he wants it to sit here and make polite conversation. Looking up at the sky which shows no signs of letting up, he almost misses the next tentative words the man addresses his way when a bus pulls into the station.

“Pardon?”

“Ah, I was just wondering if you got home alright that night? But, you’re here so I mean…”

Wooseok huffs, god what was this? Small talk in a bus stop he didn’t want to be in with a stranger who was acting all concerned about whether he got home safely, fussing like his _mother_ or something. “Look,” he finally spins around, blowing wet bangs out of his face, “I appreciated the coffee, _thank you for that_, but I’d appreciate it more if you kept out of my business, okay?”

“S-sorry,” the stranger stammers, shifting awkwardly, one leg almost coming clean off the ground as he cringes away from Wooseok.

It’s almost enough for him to apologize, though for what exactly Wooseok isn’t sure - being too short with him? Being ungrateful? Not being in the mood to socialize with a stranger who wants to know his life story? He settles for saying nothing and silence falls between then once again. Wooseok pulls his phone out and fiddles around on that instead. Ten minutes later, a second bus pulls in and the stranger stands up. Wooseok keeps his attention on his phone, determined to ignore the other when he calls out again.

“Hey…”

He looks up almost grudgingly, blinking in confusion at the black mass of sodden something the other holds out to him.

“What?”

“Here, you can have it,” the other smiles tentatively, waiting until Wooseok reaches out to accept the umbrella from him even though the bus driver is calling for him impatiently, “The rain doesn’t look like it’s going to let up soon and I live close to my stop.”

“I-”

“Take care! Don’t catch a cold!” the stranger bolts for the bus, apologizing profusely to the driver as Wooseok stares, confused, still half curled up in his spot with one hand holding the umbrella.

He turns the umbrella over and over in his hand, waving hesitantly at the stranger as the bus pulls out from the stop. Slowly, Wooseok stands and opens up the umbrella, stepping out into the rain armed with cover this time as he slowly makes his way towards the subway station. It’s a five minute walk, not far from the bus stop at all, but a nightmare to make in the rain. Closing the umbrella, he catches the sight of a worn out tag near the clasp and turns it over curiously, inwardly amused that the man still keeps name tags on his things though he’s clearly well past the age of being a school boy.

_Han Seungwoo_.

_Han Seungwoo_, he runs his fingers over the tag as he jogs down the stairs towards the train, _what a curious man._

* * *

**\- 3 -**

“That’ll be 3,400 ₩,  thank you very much, please wait on this side for your order.”

The response he gives is practically rote now, but Wooseok is used to it. He’s even got the perfect customer service smile and the best way to tilt his head all worked out - of everyone in the coffeeshop, he always nets the most tips though his coworkers will just hiss that it’s his face doing all the hard work. Wooseok just scoffs and goes back to his customers; he’ll take any advantage he can get and it’s still _his_ face doing the work, a face he works hard at taking care of, thank you very much. He need the tips, not just to pay the bills, but to save up towards starting his own cafe. Once he has enough capital and experience to convince his parents to invest and the banks to give him a loan, he’ll take another step closer to his dream. But until then, he’ll work hard learning all the different jobs that it takes to run a coffee shop smoothly.

“Good Afternoon,” he greets the next customer as he pops the change the last lady had gestured for him to keep into the tip jar, “What can I get for you today.”

“A large latte and any pastry you’d recommend, please.”

“Do you have any allergies?” Wooseok lifts his eyes from the screen he had been inputting the orders into and almost chokes on his next words, “Our store has a batch of l-lovely apple fritters that just came out of the oven, but there are walnuts on top.”

“No allergies, and an apple fritter sounds great,” the stranger, no, Han Seungwoo looks back at him, amused, lips stretched into a wide smile which showed off his dimple again, “Thank you. Hello, we meet again.”

“Yes, hello,” he almost fumbles through putting the rest of the order through, “For here or to go?”

“To go please. I hope you didn’t get sick?”

“I, um, no, I didn’t,” Woosoek flashes the other a more natural smile than his usual service one,pausing to mark down the other’s name on the large coffee cup he passes on to his coworker, “Thank you for the umbrella, it was very…kind of you. I hope, uh, I hope you didn’t get sick without it?”

It had been a constant worry of his, that guilty, niggling in the back of his mind that followed him around for days and then popped up again once in a while when stray thoughts were most likely to take a bite out of you - during a quiet shift, in the shower, right as you’re trying to fall asleep. There had been a part of him that almost wanted to hunt down the good Samaritan and return the umbrella, or at least to say thank you properly. He was grateful, really, he was, he’s just testy when in a mood and terrible at expressing himself even on the best days. And bitter, he has to admit, bitter towards everything and anything that reminded him of a similar person who had kindness enough for all the world.

“Oh no,” Han Seungwoo beams, bangs flopping out of the way to reveal an almost surprisingly good looking face and warm eyes, “I don’t get sick easily.”

“That’s, good,” Wooseok wonders briefly why words seemed to come so slowly to him and settled for smiling again instead, “your order will just be a minute, if you don’t mind stepping to the side?”

“Oh,” Han Seungwoo blinks at him in surprise, “But I didn’t pay yet?”

“It’s on me,” Wooseok laughs at how confounded the other man looks, “Please, take it as a thank you for before. I owe you twice over now.”

The taller man looks ready to argue but stops himself, smiling bashfully instead. “It was no trouble. I just wanted to help,” he pauses, squinting at Wooseok’s name tag before stepping to the left, “Wooseok-ssi.”

“You did, thank you, I appreciate it.”

Han Seungwoo moves and with him so does the rest of the line and Wooseok is soon too caught up in working the till to notice the considering glances the other shoots him, especially when he picks up his order and notices the little cat Wooseok had drawn next to his name on the cup. 

He looks up just in time to see Han Seungwoo waving timidly at him as he exits as if a smaller motion made him easier to miss with the height he had on most people in this cafe, and Wooseok laughs, waving back with a bright smile, “Thank you, have a nice day!”

“Your friend, hyung? You should have said something! I would have thrown in some extras!”

“Just someone I know,” Wooseok shoos Yohan back to his station, laughing as the other throwshis weight back on his heels and glides back to the coffee machine on those damnable wheelies he had recently bought and refused to take off ever since, “It’s fine, I gave him my discount. Can I help the next customer please?”

* * *

**\- 4 -**

After so many dreary, rainy spring days, the sun was finally out and Wooseok was absolutely determined to take advantage of the good weather. With the blazing sun up ahead, the warmth that soaked into his skin heralded the official end to the wet and damp. His phone buzzes and Wooseok looks down to see a text message from Jinhyuk.

> _Are you free for dinner this weekend? Hwan-ah wants to know._

He stares at those innocuous words for a moment, waiting for a reaction, some heavy emotion or tensing of his body, and gets nothing. Nothing except a tired acknowledgement that the Jinhyuk of before would never have had to justify why he was contacting Wooseok.

It’s been months now since they’ve really interacted, with Jinhyuk walking on eggshells everytime he was around Wooseok, spending most of his time looking so terribly guilty that Wooseok wanted nothing to do with him because seeing that expression on Jinhyuk’s face made everything so much _worse_ than it already was. The longing that he felt, that sheer _wanting_ for things to go back to the way they had always been, to when Wooseok had shared his life with Jinhyuk, could call him ‘love’ freely, could reach out and hold his hand for no reason other than that he wanted to - every change and every answering feeling of emptiness at the lack was exacerbated by Jinhyuk’s own evident sorrow. So he had pulled away and their friends had known better than to push, a few quietly showing up to help him move out and into his own place, and the others hesitantly prodding to see when it would be acceptable for them to mention Jinhyuk around him again.

It had been hell. Wooseok had hated it, the tip-toeing and the moments everyone treated him like shattered glass. He had turned to the people in the other parts of his life that weren’t quite so intertwined with Jinhyuk to occupy himself instead, classmates and coworkers, and was quite surprised by how much he liked spending time with them. By how it hadn’t quite been the end of the world for him to spend time away from Jinhyuk and build up a life without him.

They weren’t ever going to go back to that seamless ease with each other but for now this was enough.

_Weekend is fine_, he texts back after he’s settled down in the middle of the park in a path of grass he’s deemed to be sufficiently soft and not _too_ sunny for his liking, _just let me know place and time. _With that done, Wooseok lays back and literally sets about basking in the sun, slight smile playing across his face at the delightful chance to relax.

“Luizy! Luizy, stop, sit girl, sit!”

The near frantic cries has him peeking one eye open to see a streak of golden brown heading his way and he has no time at all to prepare himself before a thirty pound energetically furry brown _something_ has knocked the air out of his lungs just by perching on him and started licking his face enthusiastically. “Wha- stop,” Wooseok tries to push the dog off of him all while trying not to laugh at the ticklish sensation, grimacing at being covered by dog slobber.

“Luizy! Bad girl, get off the nice man, Luizy, please _sit!_”

The dog pauses and then very obligingly sits down right on Woosoek’s stomach. “Oof!”

“That is not what I was aiming for. That was not what I was aiming for _at all_, Luizy!”

Wooseok looks up and makes eye contact with the errant dog’s very harried owner, takes in the embarrassed look on the other’s face and loses the fight entirely, bursting into a fit of giggles that Luizy takes as a cue to start licking his face again. It takes several minutes for the other man to wrestle the very enthusiastic dog off of Wooseok and even longer for him to get her to settle down and _not_ jump him again. Wooseok ends up petting the happy puppy (and hadn’t that been a surprise? To find that she was still a puppy and this big already) who nestles her face into his lap and flops over to present her belly for more pets, soaking up the attention, much to her owner’s chagrin.

“I’m _so_ sorry about this, this wasn’t how I expected to run into you again,” the taller man sits down heavily, shooting a disappointed look at the pup who cares nothing at all for the unspoken reprimand, “she never listens to anyone but her owner, and even _then_ it’s half the time.”

“Lovely to see you again as well, Han Seungwoo,” Wooseok laughs, “She’s not your’s? I bet she’s normally a good girl, aren’t you girl?”

“Luizy’s a brat, but a cuddly one,” Seungwoo admits, “And hey, you _do_ know my name, Kim Wooseok.”

“And you know mine,” Wooseok shoots back, grinning and then breaking away to coo at the big puppy trying to crawl her way entirely into his lap, “Dog sitting?”

“Of sorts,” the other settles down with a tired groan, content to let the other keep the dog occupied for now, “My friend Seungyoun, that’s her owner, he’s got a huge deadline coming up so he hasn’t had time to walk Luizy and she was getting restless. Figured I’d take her off his hands for an afternoon, but look where that got me.”

“It seems to me, Han Seungwoo-ssi, that you’re never quite well repaid for your kind deeds,” Wooseok teases, surprising even himself at how easily the banter comes, “Always picking out the most ungrateful cases, aren’t you?”

“Not so, the latte and fritter you treated me to last time was delicious, I almost went back to buy another one right away. I’d say _that’s_ more than plenty grateful enough”

“I’m glad to hear it, my debts are repaid then,” Wooseok sniffs delicately, putting on a show before getting serious again, “And thank you, again. For before.”

Seungwoo beams, unveiling to the world that dimple that Wooseok is suddenly filled with a childish urge to poke, to see how deep it went. “You’re welcome. See, I’m not taking ungrateful cases. And Luizy loves me, don’t you Luizy?”

Luizy huffs and butts her head against Wooseok’s hand for more pets, and he all but cackles at the betrayed look on Seungwoo’s face. He spends a lazy afternoon chatting with Seungwoo and playing with Luizy, and the sun is almost setting by the time he finally gets up and dusts off his pants, a task thwarted several times by Luizy who seemed to have endless energy as all puppies do.

“Well, I really have to run now, but thanks for hanging out with me with this beautiful lady all afternoon,” Wooseok grins, “I’ll, uh, I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah, see you around!” Seungwoo waves, aborting the action as he tries to wrestle the leash back onto Luizy’s collar before she runs after a chipmunk again.

See you around again, indeed.

* * *

** \- 5 -**

“Uhh, hang on, sorry, I have change in my pocket-”

Wooseok rolls his eyes and then steps out of his place in line to slide a 10,000₩ bill across to the cashier. “I’ve got it, ring him up please.”

Han Seungwoo whirls around, the motion revealing surprised eyes behind the still too-long bangs as he turns to face Wooseok and he laughs. The other man breathes out a heartfelt 'thank you', pushes the change into Wooseok’s hands, and then hurries to bag his items, hovering at the end of the register until Wooseok has finished paying for his groceries and joins him, both arms laden with plastic bags that are filled to the brim.

“It looks like I’m the one who owes you now,” Seungwoo muses and Wooseok snorts.

“Only you would run out of money to pay for your own groceries because you were too busy helping someone else pay for their’s,” he rolls his eyes fondly, “I saw you helping that halmoni earlier. Do you just go around helping everyone you run into? And don’t you carry a card with you too if you’re going to run around doing things like this?”

“Not _everyone_,” Seungwoo protests, readjusting the bags for a moment to stop them from digging into his palms quite so much, “And I left my wallet in my apartment, it was supposed to be a quick run down to the store, so I just grabbed some cash.”

“Uhuh, be careful next time. Or well, I suppose it was about time that the universe arranged for someone to pay you back for all the good you do during your time of need.”

“Time of need indeed,” Seungwoo holds up the extra large pack of toilet paper and nods seriously, sending Wooseok off into a fit of laughter that has him stumbling out of the store to avoid the curious gazes of the other patrons.

“Look what you’ve done! They probably think I’m crazy now,” Wooseok complains as they stroll in vaguely the same direction.

“Sorry, sorry,” Seungwoo grins, not sorry at all, “Hey uh, do you live nearby?”

Wooseok raises one eyebrow and then looks down at his get up of pyjama pants and flip-flops, “I should hope so, or you’re implying that this is my regular fashion sense in which case, I am _offended_ sir.”

“No, no! I just, uh, I’m just one block over, do you want to come up so I can pay you back?”

_Does he want to go up to the apartment of a person he barely knows and maybe get murdered for a measly __10,000_ ₩ _? _

Wooseok almost snarks the older man but he holds his tongue; no, he wasn’t being fair. Seungwoo was, as always, nothing if not sincere. He was a bona fide bleeding heart and a good Samaritan of epic extremes; if he wasn’t also against crime and violence of any sort, Wooseok bets that he would also moonlight as a modern, urban Robin Hood. Instead he has to content himself with buying bad coffee for half-frozen strangers and buying groceries for grandmothers. And they weren’t strangers anymore, at least, not really. Their little chat in the park a few weeks back have revealed more than Wooseok ever set out to know about this helpful stranger, and now he wouldn’t quite hesitate to call the other a friend despite only having really met him a few times.

“No, it’s alright,” he says instead, “Let’s just treat it as the karmic balance in this universe paying you back for everything you pay forward. Let me earn some good karma for once.”

He ends off the statement with a cheesy wink designed to lighten the atmosphere and it works, Seungwoo chuckles and shakes his head, “Alright, thank you for your kind gesture then. Glad to see I’ve inspired you to pay it forward too.”

Wooseok smiles up at the man who taught him to put good back into the world even on days when he isn’t expecting to receive any of it, grin highlighted by the streetlamp he was standing underneath.

“You have, you really have.”

* * *

**+1**

Deliveries aren’t something that Wooseok normally runs - they’re reserved for Hangyul and his bike that’s definitely seen better days, or Yohan and his thrice-cursed wheelies - but today he does because they’re short staffed and Yena had turned her best puppy look on their manager until he turned to sweet-talk Wooseok into doing it instead. Wooseok longs for the days when their boss didn’t decide to compete with Uber Eats and left the delivery fee in someone else’s pockets.

_Or better yet,_ he sighs, pushing open the doors to yet another swanky commercial building, _let the addicts come to us and pick up their own damn coffee_.

He’s let up by the receptionist without a second question once he hefts cups of coffee into view. Following the flow of traffic, Wooseok shuffles out of the elevator onto the eleventh floor and then pushes open one of the doors open with a shoulder, service smile pasted onto his face as the employee closest to the door turns to face him, “Coffee order for Choi Byungchan?”

“A-ah, yes! Let me get the money!” the baby-faced intern, or who Wooseok guesses is the intern anyways, bolts for the cubicles and Wooseok laughs to himself when he nearly trips over a wheely chair. _Cute_.

“Did they chip in, Byungchan? Don’t let them bully you into treating,” a familiar voice calls out and Wooseok perks up.

Sure enough, Han Seungwoo strolls into the room, a slight frown on his face, bangs brushed up and out of his eyes for once, and _oh_, yes, this style was much nicer. “I got it hyung! Don’t worry,” Byungchan grins and, what would you know, he’s _also_ got dimples and Wooseok can’t help but snort - maybe this was what Seungwoo's company specialized in, the distribution of persons with dimples.

His snort calls attention to himself though and Seungwoo’s gaze swings over, warming when he sees who it is, “Wooseok-ah! Long time no see!”

Wooseok wonders when exactly they’ve gotten close enough for Seungwoo to call him _that_ familiarly but he shrugs and goes along with it, speaking in banmal now just to see if he could get away with it. “Less than a month this time, that’s a record isn’t it?”

Seungwoo takes the money from Byungchan and comes closer with his ready-made excuse to chat. “I’m pretty sure I’m older than you,” he remarks in response to the complete dropping of formalities.

Wooseok raises an eyebrow and hums, “Is that so. What, want me to call you hyung then?”

“I wouldn’t be opposed to it,” Seungwoo flashes him another gummy smile, pulling a couple more bills out of his own wallet before handing the stack to Wooseok, “Here, thanks for the coffee.”

“That’s too much!” Wooseok protests at once only for Seungwoo to wave him off.

“I’m just paying you back for last time. Plus a tip for good service.”

“I thought we agreed that last time was a favour you didn’t have to pay back,” Wooseok grumbles but takes the money because he’s not a fool, thank you very much, he’s not going to argue forever when someone offers him free money, “The universe has to pay its dues.”

“The universe is plenty kind to me already,” Seungwoo laughs, “Have a safe trip back.”

“Thanks, have a good day,” Wooseok waves to Byungchan who is watching them curiously as he makes for the door, “See you around, _hyung_.”

Slipping out of the office, he laughs and shakes his head to himself at the coincidence. Of all places, of course one of the places placing an order on the one day Wooseok is forced to make deliveries would be Han Seungwoo’s office. If he was a betting man, he’d say this wasn’t going to be the last they saw of each other. Pressing the button for the elevator, he rocks back on his heels and settles in for the wait.

“Kim Wooseok-ssi!”

He turns at the call, eyebrows rising minutely, “Yes? Did I forget something? Anything wrong with the order?”

Seungwoo jogs over, stopping just short of where Wooseok was standing, forcing him to crane his neck back to keep eye contact with the taller man. “One more thing before you go.”

“Yes?”

The older man takes a fortifying breath before looking at Wooseok, all business and no smiles, just a trace of nervousness along his lips.

“Your number.”

“What?” Wooseok blinks and Seungwoo balks immediately, ducking his head bashfully and scratching at the nape of his neck.

“I-I, can I have your number?”

“….sure?” Wooseok pulls his phone out of his pocket slowly.

They’re silent again as Wooseok quietly inputs his number into Seungwoo’s phone while the other does the same in return. As he moves to take his phone back, he finds his hand gripped gently and he looks up into Seungwoo’s eyes, confused.

“Seungwoo-ssi?”

“Are you…are you busy tonight?”

“No?”

“Can I take you out for dinner?”

Wooseok blinks and then blinks again. Oh._ Oh. _He can feel himself flushing red to the tips of his ears, the heat slowly travelling up his throat and taking over everything until he resembles an overripe strawberry more than a person.

“Y-yeah,” he stutters out, suddenly unable to meet the other’s eyes and settles for staring at his left ear instead.

It’s no use, he can still see the grin blossom on Seungwoo’s face and that dimple wink itself into existence again. “Great! Great, uh, I’ll text you the location? Or I can pick you up from the cafe?”

“You don’t have to,” Wooseok protests, feeling pleased regardless that the other offered - how long had it been since someone made the effort to pick him up from work? “I can get there myself.”

“I’d like to though,” Seungwoo responds, sincere in a way that makes Wooseok’s teeth ache.

“Alright. If..if you want. I’ll see you tonight then?”

“Tonight.”

With one last squeeze to his hand, he is alone again and Woosoek is released from the haze of this sudden daydream, feeling giddy as a teenager in love for the first time, disgustingly so even. He glances down at the phone in his hand and smiles to himself.

Suddenly, tonight couldn’t come fast enough.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for this pairing, and I'm so, so, so excited because somehow they gave me my groove back. I'm hoping that the characterization isn't wildly off, please drop a word to let me know what you think if you have a moment, or any word at all.


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